Fishing Techniques: Stealth Fishing with Electric Outboards

Methods and fishing techniques to maximize your fishing potential.

By Patrick Campeau

When fish are active and assertive, they’re easy for almost any angler to catch. However, when they’re more passive or elusive, you must be cautious, meticulous, and utilize more subtle fishing techniques to get their attention.

Horror stories (Cautionary Tales)

Time and again, I’ve seen even seasoned anglers, who appear to be doing everything right, spook fish from hundreds of feet away. 

Picture walleye, trout, or bass resting near the bottom, only to be startled by the sudden roar of an engine when an amateur angler approaches with their outboard. Although fish in busy lakes and rivers are said to adapt to man-made sounds, they are still easily unsettled by sudden noise and vibrations.

I once had a guide tell me about a promising walleye spot with just one catch, we could only use it once, and I believe I know why. On the first pass, we landed four excellent specimens, but then the water current carried us further out and we had to reposition our boat. Now, Instead of carefully navigating around the walleye fishing site to avoid disturbing the fish, the guide powered up his engine and went straight across the site, scaring off all the fish below us for good. And now we know why his fishing hot-spot only worked once per session.

Another unfortunate situation occurs when an angler takes all the right steps to get in position, carefully approaching the fishing site with his equipment without making any noise, then after all that preparation, he stops the engine, grabs his anchor and chain, and throws it down as fast as it can go. Imagine the intense sounds created by this gesture, as well as the clatter and chaos of throwing such a heavy object into the water. But the worst comes later when the anchor reaches the bottom and doesn’t hold securely. Add to this, the wind and current moving the anchor, leading to the benthos rising to the surface and alerting the fish nearby.

Handy Fishing Alternatives

It seems that more and more boats these days are equipped with electromechanical shallow water anchors that look like long spider legs. These large jointed shafts, called Power-Poke Shallow Water Anchors, or SWA’s, penetrate the lakebed and allow anglers to shut off their hulls while they lure their targeted fish without giving themselves away. I recently watched a video on these spikes that are capable of holding a 2,040 kg hull in place! The fisherman had sunk his 10-foot Power-Pole Blade anchors into the water and he tried to unhook the anchor using his 250-HP outboard motor. The SWA’s power is quite impressive and an ideal tool for those who chase predatory fish in shallow waters.

Fishing can be challenging on its own, and the last thing you need is to blow your cover by being too noisy. With the unmatched versatility of Power-Pole, you get a shallow water anchor that deploys silently and secures you to one place, maximizing your ability to secure that prized catch, all at the touch of a button. Equipped with quiet hydraulics and pumps mounted inside of the boat to reduce transfer noise, the fish won’t even know you’re there. Regardless of wind and current, the Dual Power-Pole anchors your boat in position for the optimal fishing experience.

Electric Solution

In the old days, with a hand-operated electric motor mounted on the transom, all you had to do was slowly approach the fishing spot, then turn 180 degrees to stay in place in a backward fashion so that the wind and current don’t cause the boat to pivot around. Additionally, by using this method, which requires a great deal of energy and care, we were able to easily bring ourselves to a stop and hold position.

Nowadays, with the new electric front-end motors, it’s much easier to approach a fishing site and come to a stop without disturbing the fish. For example, The Force Kraken electric motor won’t spook the fish underneath even when you’re directly above them as it’s extremely quiet both above and below the water, despite it being the most powerful on the market at 100 lbs of thrust. Running on 24 or 36 volts, it offers the most accurate multi-band GPS and virtual anchoring technology allowing you to keep your boat stationary, right at the sweet spot for your next catch. You can even connect your Garmin compatible watch to control steering, virtual anchoring, and more all from your wrist! By connecting to your compatible chartplotter, you can also create routes that your electric motor will follow while you focus on the fishing techniques. And that’s not all, these motors are now also available in 48”, 63”, 75”, and 90” to meet the demands of boats with raised freeboards, and a swivel mount for easy installation in boats with limited bow space.

The Kraken motors’ little brother in the Garmin range, with a scissor deployment rather than a pivot, is the Force electric motor, available in 50” – 57” lengths and just as powerful a tool for the job at hand. What’s more is that you can simply point the remote to your destination and Force handles the rest, smoothly gliding you to the targeted area. Whether it’s with the wireless pedal or the floating, waterproof remote control, you can easily sneak up on fish and lure them with your best bait.

The Future of Boating

At the beginning of this piece, I explained that conventional outboard motors are noisy and disruptive. Now, think of an electric outboard. We’ve all been surprised once in a while when an electric car drives by making little to no noise. Similarly, the new Avator Electric Outboards, 100% designed and assembled by Mercury Marine, offer the precise power needed to power aluminum fishing boats, compact pontoons, and even small fiberglass runabouts, all with the utmost care and respect for the environment in mind. Quiet, flexible, and easy to use, with zero direct emissions and minimal maintenance, the Avator electric outboards come in four unique variations for avid anglers.

The entry-level 7.5e generates thrust equivalent to that of a 3.5 hp 4-stroke outboard with 750 watts of power. For the rest, we can compare the 20e to a 5hp with 2200 watts, the 35e to an 8hp with 3700 watts, the 75e to a 10hp with 7500 watts, and the 110e to a 15hp with 11000 watts. As for autonomy, depending on speed, load, and hull requirements, you can expect to cruise from one hour to 19 hours with a 7.5e. Other models average up to 8 hours which can easily hold up to four additional batteries with no problem. Ultra-powerful chargers will also re-energize your boat overnight while you prepare for your next fishing adventure. The smooth, quiet, electric power of the Avator will bring your right to the heart of the action while keeping you silent and invisible to even the most perceptive of fish. As the Mercury Marine slogan goes, you can Go Boldly while having a positive impact on the environment.

Good fishing. 

Patrick Campeau is a professional fisherman and a three-time provincial champion, inducted into the Canadian Pantheon of Fishing. Find out more about Patrick Campeau at www.pcampeau.com or www.facebook.com/lapassiondepatrickcampeau